Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has admitted that the Austrians “can’t be angry” with Max Verstappen for setting the fastest lap on Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix, despite being told by the team not to bother.
Verstappen was once again in a league of his own at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as the Dutchman cruised to his 40th career win.
He completed a mesmeric Grand Slam having topped every single session throughout the weekend, whilst he also claimed the fastest lap in the race and led every circulation of the Spanish venue.
To highlight his superiority, Verstappen set the fastest lap in the closing laps of the race, when he was on older tyres compared to team-mate Sergio Perez.
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Due to his older rubber, Red Bull weren’t keen for Verstappen to push for the fastest lap; however, nothing could stop the two-time World Champion.
“He insisted on going for the extra point even though his tyres were no longer as good as Checo (Sergio Perez)’s as we didn’t want him to do it,” Marko told the Austrian broadcaster ORF.
“You just can’t get this sort of thing through to him,” Marko laughed.
The main reason why Red Bull weren’t wanting Verstappen to attempt the fastest lap of the race was because he’d received three track limits warnings, and ultimately a black and white flag.
All of his track limits warnings were for the exit of Turn 10, much to Verstappen’s frustration.
One more warning would’ve seen the Dutchman penalised, with that having been why the team didn’t want the championship leader to “risk anything”.
“He had three warnings and we really didn’t want to risk anything in a situation like that,” said Marko. “But you can’t be angry with him.”
Verstappen claimed his fifth win of the season by a remarkable 24 seconds, just a week after he won the Monaco Grand Prix by over 28.
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Nobody can stop the Red Bull star, who is hoping that the field will “get closer” as the season develops.
Should Red Bull’s dominance continue, then Verstappen will likely have a third consecutive title sewn up well before the final round in Abu Dhabi.
“Hopefully throughout the year it will already get closer and maybe next year there are more teams really up there,” Verstappen said.